


Safe Keeping

by twitch



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Exposure, Ghosts, Hypothermia, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Non-Detailed Nakedness, Off Screen Violence, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 08:46:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16238159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twitch/pseuds/twitch
Summary: The shuttle had been seized, for all appearances the crew missing. When the First Order regained control of the shuttle only two pirates were left alive.Interrogations and the blackbox told them of a better outcome. Despite the blood that stained the shuttle four individuals boarded the pirate ship, three pirates to escort the one in shackles.Kylo had reason to hope.





	Safe Keeping

**Author's Note:**

> In another example of inspiration striking late, I present for Week 9 of the Kylux Summer Fest. "Start Over." 
> 
> Prompts Used: Ghost | Memory | Time

They tracked him down to the encampment by dawn. The three squadrons of Stormtroopers that accompanied him made quick time ransacking the tents and caravans, more concerned in finding than looting. Nothing useful turned up, despite his ire increasing. His scowl deepened, and fingers hovered over the hilt of his lightsaber, but they kept searching.

The sentients were standing back, cordoned from the search but not restrained. For all he could tell, from their naturally grey oblong faces, they stood calm and unresponsive, not even looking at one another. Had it not been for the intel they received, both from the blackbox of the shuttle Hux had been on and the interrogations of the pirates they captured, he would never had thought that Hux arrived on the planet. 

It was when one of the Squadron leaders hailed him, unspeaking but gesturing with their head towards one of the onlookers, that he took a closer look. It was wearing the grey-brown cloaks that all the elders of the encampment wore, but in the lower appendages that served as the first set of arms, two of its babies were nestled together, swaddled in a black blanket. 

A jerk of the Force had the fabric snapping free, the babies and the elder shrieking when the babies were spun in the air from the strength of the movement. The babies were caught by the one elder and another standing nearby while Kylo caught the blanket with his outstretched hand. 

The glottal language of the sentients grew louder, three trying to speak to him, but his focus was on the white stripes. The blanket not a blanket but a familiar greatcoat. 

The same squadron leader had jerked her gaze towards the panicking individuals. “According to translation they are saying several pirates arrived, bringing the man who wore these in shackles. They stripped him, throwing his clothes at them.”

Clenching his fist tighter, thumb digging into the hole that a blaster shot made through the sleeve, Kylo looked to the three elders, smirking. Despite their hoods and limited knowledge of basic, the shape of the words that left his lips were unmistakable. “Kill them.”

He stalked away to the sound of blasters locked and charging for the kill. 

The cloud cover that overtook the sky lingered past high sun. The lack of sun and the wind increased the chill over the plains, shaking the long grass as much as his strides did. Grazing his thighs, knocked briefly away by his cloak, he didn’t stop, using the Force to bolster his steps. At some point during the afternoon a misty rain turned to a steady downpour, absent of lightning and thunder. The lightning would’ve been useful as night fell, the moons and stars hidden, his lightsaber the only light he had. 

The flicker of red showed shadowy shapes in the distance, figures in the sparse boughs of outcroppings of trees. Poised on rocks and boulders, watching him intently. Rustling the grass alongside him but always steering clear, aware of the weapon in his hand, the malice – but also the fear – in his heart. 

One shadow didn’t budge. Where tails had flitted and ears twitched, sensitive to the cold wind and rain, it remained unperturbed. The shape suggested an individual and not a beast but the shape of the clothing was not of the cloaks that the native population wore. 

The closer Kylo got he recognised it for a dress, motionless despite the wind. The grass that should’ve been flattened temporarily by feet or rain whipped through it, the shadow incorporeal as it should be. 

But there was no body, no source to project the shadow from. 

The shadow lifted its head. Had it been a real person he would’ve thought they were protecting their face from the elements, but when eyes lifted to meet his, there was nothing submissive in their expression. Kylo would’ve sneered for the disobedience, did ease the tip of his lightsaber forward, drawing towards their chin in threat. 

Dark grey against the black of night lightened by the spitting red. Breath catching in his chest, he fought to keep his arm and hand steady, dreading that the colour would manifest into blue, the sign of a Force ghost. 

She remained unmoving, though her eyes reflected deep sadness. Perhaps for the death that surrounded her very existence but there was something else, not just the beseeching nature of her features.

She turned away, silent as she was forced to be, but the lingering look she cast back to him had him following swiftly. 

Kylo lost track of time, walking alongside her drifting form. The rain showed no sign of relenting, the wind beating it against his face. He didn’t waste the energy to push his hair back, not to look forward, trusting her guidance, not to get a better look at her from the corner of his eye. He only jerked to a stop when her figure was no longer beside him. 

He snapped forward when he saw a sudden movement, her pale grey figure reappearing on the sharp crests of three boulders, high above the grass. It was her light that cast a soft glow on the white figure sprawled beneath her, as if her arms could shelter the redhead. 

Bolting forward in recognition he clamoured up the boulders that they claimed for themselves. Casting Kylo a look that would’ve been teary eyed but smiling, had she the tears to shed, she curled her fingers down to brush against the man’s forehead, ease soaked strands back into place with the rest of his hair. 

Her hand passed through, man undisturbed, unmoving from the shackles that bound his wrists to the spike in the rock.

A last look to the unconscious man, fingers curled into her palm, and her light faded. Dissipated amongst the raindrops, falling wetly on both men. 

Hux’s pallor greyed instantly without her presence. Lips and extremities blue. He had deactivated his lightsaber while walking with the ghost but he powered it back on, not even thinking that the sparks that flew off the chains when he shattered each with a single blow could burn Hux’s bare arms. 

Turning Hux’s face up to his, bringing his cheek to his mouth, no heat or hair upon his skin, Kylo shed his gloves in two quick tugs. Groped every inch of Hux’s neck, desperately seeking a pulse.

“Medic ship to my flare, immediately!” He threw up his hand to the sky, an orange-red flame that was larger than necessary shooting from his fingertips, more for the squadrons sake than the Finalizer orbiting the planet. His command issued into the comm wristband he wore he hurried to pull his cloak off. As soaked as it was it would still offer protection for the naked man, bundling him up in the fabric before pulling him closer, half for body heat, half for the CPR he started, under the flame that danced above them, thriving in the storm.

 

High Command wanted all the details of the rescue mission, demanded the report as soon as possible. Kylo had more important things to deal with and had requested reports from each squadron leader to be submitted to Mitaka, accounting for their participation in the mission. The search through and disposal of the encampment and its inhabitants. Mitaka had been on hand with him in the medbay, inputting his verbal account of the mission onto his datapad, to be included with the other reports submitted to High Command. After his own approval of the respective reports he would send them out. 

His priority was to be on hand when Hux woke up. 

He had been stabilized by the crew that manned the Finalizer medbay, the medics who arrived on planet managing to establish a pulse before they arrived on the star destroyer. The state of his hypothermia was improving, helped by dry clothing and blankets once he was in a recovery room. Bacta applied to the blaster shot on his arm and the source of a concussion on his forehead had nearly treated those injuries but Hux had yet to regain consciousness. 

Beta shift was soon to begin when Kylo saw Hux’s hand tremble, jerking on the intravenous that hydrated him. 

Taking a deep breath, steadying himself and his hand, he linked his fingers with Hux’s. “Don’t move around too much,” Kylo instructed lowly, shuffling the chair he sat in closer to the cot. 

A noisy exhale, which he liked to think was a protest on yet another order from his superior, and Hux twisted his head towards his voice. Opened his eyes a few seconds later. “Am I on the Finalizer?” 

“Safe and sound.” The reassurance was more for himself, the tight smile for Hux. “The blackbox from your shuttle was backed up, events from what happened on board channeled through local channels, but we don’t know what happened after the shuttle was seized and they destroyed the box.”

“They killed my crew. Most of them when our shuttle was seized,” Hux explained, eyes narrowing sleepily. “I imagine the others were killed when I was taken off the shuttle into pirates ship.”

Not wanting to disturb the intravenous he dragged the pad of his thumb along Hux’s palm, letting him relax. “Did they say anything about why they took you, why they took you to that planet?”

“Not for a romantic getaway.” With an amused chuckle of a huff Kylo listened to Hux, waiting to see if there was a reason. “A death for many deaths. A long death I imagine. Exposure to the elements, or waiting for some animals to make a meal out of me. They didn’t implicitly say anything, why they chose that planet.” 

He personally didn’t interrogate the pirates that survived capture. He would later check in with the interrogators, see if they had any relevant information that would be worth adding to the reports. 

“It was close.” Bringing his other hand up, carefully cupping Hux’s hand between his palms, he looked to him from under matted hair. “I… I nearly lost you – but someone was looking out for you. A ghost showed me the way to you, brought me to the boulder you were chained to.”

Hux regarded him, head lifting slightly. “A Force ghost?”

“A Force ghost is blue. She was grey. She waited for me.” 

Despite his exhaustion something sharpened in Hux’s mind. “She… What did she look like?”

Straightening up a little, Kylo eased their hands down to rest of the thin mattress. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you about colour but… she had long wavy hair. Tall, a little above my shoulders.” And yet, for all the glances that he cast her way, he could envision her face clearly, the gentle jawline, high cheekbones sprinkled with freckles. “And… she had two darker freckles, maybe moles, on her temple.”

“What?” Hux had barely croaked the word out, eyes wide. “She’s… I didn’t know. I – I wanted to believe…”

Bringing one hand to Hux’s forehead, fingers brushing fallen strands over hair back into place, Kylo kept his voice low. “Believe what?” 

“My mother – my real mother.” Trying to curl his fingers with Kylo’s Hux shook his head, eyes glassy when they met Kylo’s. “She told me – promised me – that no matter what happened, she would keep me safe.”

“She did.” Swallowing for the tears that spilled onto Hux’s cheeks, smiling through his own shaky breath, Kylo eased his fingers down, thumb gentle on those same high cheekbones. “She did,” Kylo reassured him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wish you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://centurytwitch.tumblr.com).


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